Brabant Invests €14.5 Million in Digital Security with Launch of Brabant House of Cyber

The Province of Brabant and more than 30 regional and national partners are launching a major joint investment of nearly €14.5 million to strengthen the region’s digital resilience through the creation of the Brabant House of Cyber (BHoC). This new innovation coalition unites industry, education and government to accelerate the development of secure technologies, build cybersecurity talent and provide practical solutions that help companies protect themselves against rapidly increasing digital threats. With the first projects now underway, the BHoC marks the first major step in implementing the Mission Security Action Plan, positioning Brabant as a national leader in secure innovation and future-proof digital growth.

Cyberattacks are increasing rapidly and affect everything that is digitally connected: from smart machinery and automotive chips to medical equipment and power plants. Such incidents cost companies worldwide billions, can halt production, lead to job losses and slow down innovation.

“Yet cybersecurity can also be an accelerator,” says Provincial Executive Member Martijn van Gruijthuijsen (Economy, Knowledge and Talent Development). “Technology that operates within a secure environment gives companies the confidence to innovate at a faster pace. With these steps, Brabant shows that we do not wait and see, but take the lead.” Digital security is a fundamental condition for strong businesses and international cooperation. “With the Brabant House of Cyber, we are ensuring not only that Brabant companies are secure, but also that they hold a strong position in technologies that make a global impact.”

Innovation, Talent and Resilience

The BHoC combines innovation, talent development and resilience. The innovation coalition focuses on developing new security technologies, education pathways that prepare more people for careers in cybersecurity, and solutions that can be easily applied across companies and supply chains to improve their digital security.

The partnership will be guided by a programme office responsible for coordinating all projects. Within the theme of Innovation, work is being done on a programme that supports new technologies aimed at making products secure from the design stage onwards. This approach, known as security-by-design, greatly reduces the risk of malfunction or sabotage. This benefits both companies and Brabant residents by preventing production outages, protecting jobs and ensuring reliable technology.

Under the Talent theme, the coalition is developing continuous, modular learning pathways for both education and industry, which can also be used for upskilling and reskilling. This approach is unique within the Netherlands. The Resilience theme focuses on practical, scalable solutions that demonstrably enhance the security of companies and supply chains.

Collaboration

The current content leads of the BHoC are the Brabant Development Agency (BOM), TNO, Avans University of Applied Sciences, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and the Cyber Resilience Centre (CWB). In addition to the institutions mentioned above, participating partners include Smart Makers Academy, Summa College, Koning Willem I College, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Jheronimus Academy of Data Science (JADS) and Tilburg University.

The business community is also strongly represented. High-tech and cybersecurity companies such as ASML, NXP, VDL, Signify, Neways, NTS, KMWE, Vencomatic Group, DAF/Paccar, Heijmans, Bosch, Philips, Simac, ESET, Compumatica, Emproof, Schuberg Philis, MindYourPass and S2Grupo are all actively contributing.

Alongside the province and BOM, regional partners such as Brainport Development, MindLabs, the Municipality of Eindhoven, the Police and the Regional Office for Integrated Security are also involved. Nationally, the initiative collaborates with relevant ministries and key (cybersecurity) clusters including Security Delta (HSD), CVD and Digital Holland.

Source: Brabant.nl